


Numerology (Timestamps, Outtakes and Scenes from "Sock Monkey")

by Cattraine



Series: Sock Monkey [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:12:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cattraine/pseuds/Cattraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More Sock Monkey timestamps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Numerology (Timestamps, Outtakes and Scenes from "Sock Monkey")

****

One

Mao meets him on the terrace, his usual beaming smile absent and Steve feels his heart sink.

“He’s not having a good day, _brah_. Just a heads up.”

“Thanks, man.”

Steve hurries down the quiet hall to Danny’s room, pausing at the doorway, expecting to see him in the easy chair by the window or the bed. Instead Danny is sitting on the floor in the far corner of room, in the evening shadows. His bright head is resting on his knees, his arms locked around them and he is rocking himself silently. Steve’s feels something clench hard inside of his chest. For one frightening moment he has no clue what to do, then he does.

He walks over and slides down beside his partner, sitting close enough for their shoulders to brush. Danny starts a bit, and turns his head briefly to eye Steve warily, but he doesn’t stop the agitated rocking, and instead buries his face back in his knees. If anything the rocking speeds up a bit, so Steve reaches over and simply pulls him over into his lap and holds him close, ignoring the brief flailing and the increased tension in Danny’s compact body.

Steve tucks the blond head under his chin and begins stroking the tense back gently and firmly, replacing the self-comfort of Danny’s rocking with his own warm touch. After a few minutes he feels Danny’s hands hesitantly curl into the front of Steve’s shirt and hold on.

“Man, Danno, did we have a day today…”

Steve starts a long, rambling story about the team’s semi-comic adventures with a gang of wanna-be teen pakalolo dealers and their unfortunate collision with a pissed off Kono and Chin when they made the mistake of trying to sell to Kono’s ten year old nephew. There had been epic ass kicking by Kono backed up by Chin’s glacial glare of disapproval and the eventual roping in of a pack of pissed off parents and relatives. The kids hadn’t gone to jail, but they probably wished they had by now, especially after Grandma Kalakaua stepped into the fray, because if anyone can scare a kid straight, it's Grandma K.

As he talks, Steve feels Danny relax in his arms, his head shifting to rest on Steve’s shoulder, breath warm against Steve’s throat, as he tilts his head and listens. Steve mentally runs Danny’s schedule over in his head and wants to kick himself when he realizes that this is the fifth day of Dr. Avery’s latest modification in Danny’s drug schedule and all the symptoms that will entail, of which headaches, anxiety, confusion and irritability are the least. He gives his partner a hug and drops a warm kiss on the tousled head and just holds him close, trying to comfort.

After a few minutes he feels Danny hesitantly slide his arms around Steve’s waist and return the hug. They hold each other and sit quietly together for a while after Steve winds up his story. They have both met Grandma Kalakaua and she is a force to be reckoned with. Steve wonders if they can borrow her the next time they go after the Yakuza. He reaches out and pulls the bag of malasadas he brought over, and silently offers one to Danny, who takes it hesitantly, before he takes one for himself.

They sit together, the only sounds quiet breathing, the meditative munching of pastries and the occasional rustling of the paper bag. When Mao pokes his head in a couple of hours later he finds Danny curled up sleeping peacefully in McGarrett’s arms, the taller man humming softly into the tangled blond hair. He raises an interrogative brow, but Steve shakes his head silently and mouths back, _‘we’re good.’_

Mao gives him a thumb-up and strolls away smiling. He will check back later, and help McGarrett tuck Danny in for the night.

 ****

Two

Rachel leans against the counter in Tiffany’s feeling a bit weak-kneed. It isn’t everyday that one goes into a shop to have a bracelet clasp repaired and finds oneself in the middle of a robbery. She kept her calm and took detailed mental notes of the two impressively armed thieves, but that proved unnecessary because as soon as the bandits had stepped outside the store, 5-0 seemingly popped out of nowhere and arrested them.

Kono and Chin are taking witness statements now, having handed the handcuffed thieves off to HPD. Commander McGarrett himself is speaking with the manager, quietly calming the regal, silver-haired woman as he takes her statement and the discs from the store cameras. He glanced once over at Rachel, then ignored her. Still, Rachel is determined to speak with him---to ask him about Daniel, so she waits patiently.

Just as she suspected, Steve seems determined to leave her to Kono and Chin, but the moment he finishes taking the manager’s statement and turns to walk away, she steps forward.

“Commander, may I speak with you a moment?”

He turns back, face a blank, professional mask, but she doesn’t miss the brief flash in his eyes. Of course, his loyalty has always been with Danny. He steps over and gives her a small, polite smile.

“Mrs. Edwards. How can I help you?”

He matches her formality with icy courtesy of his own and she feels her face flush with anger when his eyes flick over her, taking in the diamond earrings in her earlobes and her designer silk dress and heels with a distaste that he doesn’t bother to mask. He, like Daniel, will never understand that the divorce was never about money, but security. She lifts her chin and folds her arms across her chest and meets his eyes squarely.

“I wanted to ask about Danny.”

“Danny’s doing fine.”

She bites her lip in frustration and barely keeps herself from snapping at him.

“How is he?”

It’s been almost two years since the time she visited him in the hospital and walked away in tears.

McGarrett folds his own arms and regards her coolly.

“He’s out of the hospital now.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t moved back to the east coast then.”

 _‘There is nothing keeping him here now,’_ she thinks.

There is a flash of something in McGarrett’s face she doesn’t immediately recognize and he shifts his stance, his posture becoming even more aggressive it seems, as he looks down his nose at her and gives her a small smile.

“Danny lives with me now. Excuse me, Mrs. Edwards, Kono will take your statement.”

He walks over to Chin, conversation most definitely ended, back decisively towards her and bends his dark head to speak with the other man as he hands off the discs from the camera. Rachel stares after him as she processes both his statement and the words left unsaid.

 _Danny lives with me now._

 _Danny is mine now._

She watches over Kono’s shoulder as Steve strides away, then politely turns her attention to the young woman as she realizes that what she saw in McGarrett’s face when he spoke of Daniel was triumph, and she suddenly remembers the tone of his voice ages ago during the stake-out of her neighbor’s house, that hushed, almost reverent tone.

 _That’s Danny._

How long, she wonders, has Steve McGarrett been in love with her ex-husband? She chooses to ignore the little voice of her own that whispers in her head; _‘Long enough and well enough to be there for him when he lost everything he loved most in the world.’_

She blinks hard and turns back to the patiently waiting Kono and somehow manages to muster a thin smile as she gives her statement. She has no regrets, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have nights when she wonders _‘what if?’_

 ****

Three

It’s not often that Chin Ho Kelly belly laughs and Kono is glad to see her reserved, dignified cousin crack up. Of course, she herself is not in any better shape, as she kneels in the wet sand nearly weeping with laughter at the angry splashes and the sound of Steve’s stifled laughter and pleas for mercy from his irate partner.

The partner who is currently doing his level best to drown McGarrett in the waist deep surf.

Kono snickers helplessly as Steve staggers towards the shore and struggles to escape Danny as the blond furiously pounces and grabs him by the back of his shorts and dunks him under again, then successfully shoves the dead octopus (that Steve made the tactical mistake of chasing him with earlier) down the back of Steve’s board shorts when he pops to the surface again, sputtering with laughter.

Who knew that Danny had a minor phobia about tentacles?

 ****

Four

Ben Pierson slams red-faced out of the 5-0 offices, holding a handkerchief to his bloody nose with one hand and holding his box of files with the other, nearly knocking over a secretary in his furious haste to leave. He was sure that this temporary assignment with Hawaii’s elite team would be his ticket to promotion. After all, he is an experienced Homicide Detective with more than one commendation under his belt and he was certain that the team of misfits would benefit from his expertise. He was also quite certain that he would be heading the team himself, given enough time.

He was wrong.

Kelly and Kalakaua were cool but courteous at first, but McGarrett cut him dead from the beginning. Things went to hell the second day when Ben boldly tried to commandeer William’s office. There was no reason an experienced detective like Ben should be relegated to a corner desk in the bullpen with that spacious office sitting empty. He no sooner started to shove William’s personal effects—who knew when or if that nutcase would be back—into a cardboard box when the little rookie girl walked in, got up in his face and furiously demanded to know what he thought he was doing with ‘Danny’s things’.

His attempt to placate her went to hell when he cracked a joke about her former colleague, which Kelly and McGarrett caught as they walked into the room. Before he could blink he found himself slammed face first into William’s desk by McGarrett, his arm brutally twisted up between his shoulder blades with the man himself coldly informing him that his transfer back to HPD was already printed out and waiting for his signature.

Kelly escorted him to the exit, handsome face cold as ice and his manner just as frigid, the rookie right on their heels with Ben’s own box of files and personal effects in her arms, which she shoved at him as he left and snarled “Asshole” as she flounced away. Ben caught sight of McGarrett through the glass walls, face intent as he carefully placed William’s framed photo of his little girl and the brightly painted clay police car back in the exact positions they had been on his desk.

He turns angry eyes to Kelly.

“What the fuck, man? He’s fucking nuts! Williams cracked, he’s not going to be back.”

Kelly regards him coldly.

“Danny is ours. He will be back in his own time. You’d do well to remember before you talk trash about him that he is _ohana_. I would advise you to get the hell out of here before Steve remembers how pissed at you he is right now.”

“I’m filing a complaint!”

Kelly gives him a shark-like smile.

“You do remember what ‘full immunity and means’ actually means, don’t you? Go ahead, file all the complaints you want, they’ll all end up in the same trash can. Do you really want to end up on the Governor’s shit list as well? She’s very fond of Danny.”

Ben clamps his jaw shut and leaves. The entire 5-0 team is fucking nuts.

 ****

Five

Danny stares in disbelief at the object that Steve has just thrust into his hands, beaming proudly down at his partner with a “Here you go, Danno!” before turning and striding happily off towards the nearest shave ice stand. They’re at a local charity street fair benefiting handicapped children, which McGarrett insisted on dragging Danny to today on one of Steve’s crazy field trips.

It’s a fat, plush shark complete with rows of huge felt teeth, which Steve has won from a darts booth, rapidly popping balloons with a deadly accuracy that spoke of many long, bored hours spent aboard ship. Danny makes a mental note never to challenge Steve at darts even as he sputters in outrage and follows his partner through the noisy, cheerful crowd. Does Steve think they’re on a date? And that Danny is the girl?

He catches up with his lanky partner at Kamekona’s shave ice stand fully intending to shove the shark up a McGarrett orifice that the sun never reaches, only to be derailed from his impending non-verbal hissy fit when Steve beams happily down at him and hands him a cone of his favorite cherry flavored ice, so proud of himself that he is practically bursting with it. It’s the goofy smile and soft eyes that do Danny in every time. The big lunkhead is like an overgrown child at times, or a huge puppy, desperate for approval and starved for attention.

Danny satisfies himself with whacking McGarrett once over the head with his prize (you have to be firm with puppies) before tucking the shark under his arm and taking the cone with a deep sigh of resignation. He broods over his ice and tries hard to ignore the man who has draped a possessive arm over Danny’s shoulders—Steve has no concept of personal space--- and is now chattering happily about taking a turn around the food booths where he will probably insist that Danny eat poi, pickled octopus, fried bugs on a stick, or something equally disgusting.

As Steve herds him away, Danny sends a beseeching look at Kamekona, only to have the big man smirk meanly at him and give him a little wave goodbye. Resigned to his fate, Danny allows himself to be guided towards the rows of food booths. Maybe by some miracle they will have real pizza without pineapple, or possibly deep fried Twinkies. A man can hope.

 ****

Six

Danny shuffles nervously on the stone bench, squinting into the sun as he waits for Steve. They decided to meet on the spacious grounds of the Iolani Palace for lunch today. It’s a short walk from headquarters. Danny hasn’t been living at Steve’s house for long and he’s not used to so much unstructured time alone. He has painstakingly prepared a couple of fat roast beef sandwiches and the salad that McGarrett insists on-- _‘vegetables are good for you Danno!’_ \-- packed them in a brown paper bag and carefully drove here. It’s been a long time since he drove his own car.

Steve is a bit late. Maybe a case has come up and he can’t make it. Danny pulls his phone out and checks for any missed texts. None. He puts his phone back in the pocket of his cargo shorts—and since when did he become comfortable enough to wear shorts and battered sneakers on a daily basis? He looks around for Steve for the umpteenth time. Other than the anxiety, he is actually having a good day.

Dr. Avery is slowly easing him off his meds and some days are worse than others because withdrawal sucks donkey balls. Yesterday, for example, he had a throbbing headache and was dizzy and clumsy all day, and had spent most of the afternoon huddled miserably in the hammock in the backyard until Steve got home. McGarrett took one look at his unhappy face, went into the kitchen and returned with a couple of cold Longboards and climbed into the hammock with him and firmly pulled Danny into a warm embrace. Danny will never admit in a million years that he had immediately felt much better, cuddled in Steve’s arms, because he is a grown man, dammit. He depends too much on Steve already. Steve is everything to him and he feels a hot blush cover his face at that girly admission.

“Danno!”

And there is the man himself, trotting across the street, grinning and waving happily, like the big goofball he is, at the sight of Danny. Danny feels an answering grin stretch his face. Steve’s happiness is contagious. Danny can never resist that smile and those bright eyes. He watches fondly as Steve trots over and plops down on the bench beside him, automatically raising his face for the quick kiss Steve drops on his cheek.  
Steve is babbling happily about a case they just solved with Max’s help, and how the Governor was so pleased that she is talking about a commendation for the team.

Danny smiles and nods in all the appropriate places, eyes locked on Steve’s animated face, because if its one thing that he has learned it’s to cherish every moment, because you never know when memories are all you will have left of a person. So he basks in the warmth of Steve’s smile and soaks up his attention like a sponge, memorizes his partner’s smile and prays that he’ll never loses sight of it in his lifetime.

 ****

Seven

Danny arches his back and yells; his toes curl in the damp sheets and he has to be pulling Steve’s hair out by the roots, because it _hurts_ and feels fantastic at the same time, and Steve’s _wet, hot_ mouth is fucking incredible and he is sucking Danny’s brains straight out of his skull through his dick. White light explodes behind his eyes and he wonders dimly if he is having a stroke.

He frantically tries to tug Steve off in time, but Steve is stubborn and sucks harder and swallows every drop Danny has to give him. Danny manages to look down before he collapses and catches a glimpse of his partner’s face, and yes, the smug bastard is _smirking_ , even with Danny’s cock in his mouth.

Danny can only lie there, boneless and giddy and brain dead from the first real orgasm he has had in almost two and a half years. He thinks he might have passed out from sheer bliss for a while, because the next thing he remembers is Steve lying close beside him, beaming proudly down at him as he gently runs the knuckles of one hand over the curve of Danny’s jaw, as Danny pants and tries to gather together enough of his few remaining brain cells to pull a coherent thought together.

He knows he should move, should at least return the favor-- he can feel Steve’s hard dick nudging his hip-- but all he can do is lie there in the curve of Steve’s long, tanned body and stare helplessly at his lover. He wants desperately to say something, at least thank the man who has just given him the most incredible orgasm of his life, but once again the words just are not there. He feels frustrated tears rise, and blinks and clutches at Steve, trying hard to speak. Steve’s eyes are suddenly sharp on his face and his pleased smile fades as he pulls Danny roughly into his arms and lets him bury his hot face in the curve of Steve’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey Danno, it’s alright. It’s all right. I’ve got you.”

Danny just holds tight, trying to demonstrate with touch what he can’t show with words, and Steve understands because he holds Danny just as tightly back. Danny thinks he must have fallen asleep, because he comes back to himself later relaxed and still curled in Steve’s arms, with Steve gently mouthing soft kisses over his face. Their legs are entangled and Steve is lazily trying to entwine his long toes with Danny’s. Danny wants very much to hunt down whoever taught Steve to give head like that and either thank them profusely or kill them. Steve is his now and he has no intention of sharing. He falls asleep again mulling on that thought, safe in his lover’s arms. The last thing he hears before he drifts off is Steve murmuring in his ear.

“I told you we’d get there, Danno.”

 ****

Eight

It’s quiet here and peaceful and quite beautiful, this field of green with its tidy rows of stones. Danny realizes he is clutching the little bouquet in a death grip and takes a deep breath, releasing it and easing his grip at the same time. It takes him a few minutes to find her stone. He doesn’t have clear memories of the last time he was here at her funeral. It’s small, glistening white marble etched with hearts and topped with a carved white lamb. He blinks down at it through his tears, kneels to place the little bunch of baby’s breath, pink rosebuds and lily-of-the-valley in front of it, and trace her name with shaky fingertips.

“Hey, Monkey,” he murmurs, even though he knows she isn’t here.

His beautiful girl has moved on, to Heaven, or wherever angels hang out these days. Maybe she is even being reborn even now, bringing joy into some other lucky bastard’s life. He stands, wiping his face, and a movement up under the trees on the hill catches his eye. He smiles involuntarily. His own personal guardian angel in the form of a former Navy SEAL is lurking up there, watching over him and waiting for him. Somehow it comes as no surprise that Steve followed him here.

He blinks down at the memorial, and that’s really all it is. Grace has moved on, her soul too bright for this world. Danny finally said his goodbyes last year when he waded into the surf with a stuffed monkey and a handful of pills, fully intending to join her. But just because he said goodbye, doesn’t mean he misses her any less. Grace will always be in his heart and when it’s his time to go, he will do so with the hope of reuniting with her again.

“Danno loves you.”

He closes his eyes for a moment and a sweet breeze brushes his face and he imagines he hears her.

 _I love you, Danno._

He walks away, headed to where his partner is standing not so subtly half hidden, standing under the trees, and really, how did the man become a SEAL if he is this bad at hiding? Danny will give have to give him a long lecture on camouflage. Danny is from New Jersey—granted, a concrete jungle-- but for God’s sake even he can hide better than that.

Behind him the little breeze gently ruffles the petals of Grace’s flowers.

 ****

Nine

They are at their favorite café for lunch today, with Chin, Kono and Steve already seated by the window while Danny places their order at the counter with a smiling hostess. As usual, he is neatly dressed in his ‘professional’ attire—crisp white shirt, silk tie and sharply pressed gray slacks with polished shoes, his bright hair gleaming in the sun as he stands, hands in pockets and banters with the pretty young Asian woman.

Kono nudges Chin with her elbow as she bites back a smile and Chin gives Steve a sly glance out of the corner of his eye as he studies the menu. McGarrett is scowling up at the counter, where the hostess is now openly flirting with Danny, leaning forward to display her impressive cleavage and reaching over to lightly touch his arm.

Chin turns to Kono and mouths silently, _‘one…two…”_ Before he can reach three, McGarrett can stand it no longer and is up and across the room in a half dozen strides, pushing into Danny’s personal space and casually dropping a possessive arm over his partner’s shoulders. He gives the woman a thin, insincere smile, then turns soulful eyes down on Danny as he points out something on the Special of the Day blackboard that he has suddenly decided to add to his order.

Both Chin and Kono bite back snickers at this obvious bid for attention, but Danny seems clueless, smiling up into Steve’s eyes, the disgruntled hostess now ignored as he happily bickers with his partner over his dietary choices. Steve turns back to the hostess with a smug smile and orders. Danny however, throws an amused glance over his shoulder at his teammates and winks.

Smooth Dog is not as smooth as he thinks.

 ****

Ten

Danny has been racking his brain for days trying to think of something besides grenades and ammunition to get for McGarrett for his upcoming birthday. He kind of wants to get something special for the big lunkhead because this is the first birthday since Danny moved in, and he wants to do something nice for his partner. He kind of has the feeling that everyone has blown off Steve’s previous birthdays since his mom died. Even Mary Ann has only sent a generic card with a Target gift card thrown in. Steve himself casually blew the date off, telling Danny not to worry about it, that he has everything he needs.

So Danny has taken to strolling around downtown Honolulu after he has lunch with Steve looking for ideas. He doesn’t have much time left, McGarrett’s birthday is only two days away. He’s walking through Chinatown, marveling at the bright jumble of merchandise (and mentally cringing at the sight of the entire skewered-through-the-eye carcasses of Peking ducks in a butcher’s window display) when the bright illustrations in a tattoo artist’s window catch his eye. Some of the designs are really beautiful, and he wanders closer to look at them.

Steve really likes skin ink, he knows, and Danny always enjoys tracing the outlines of Steve’s various tattoos with both fingers and tongue. Danny’s favorite is the elaborate tramp stamp on McGarrett’s lower back, the entire story of which Danny has yet to weasel out of Steve although he did once manage to get the words ‘drunk’, ‘liberty’ and ‘Australia’ gasped out of him after a thorough interrogation that may or may not have involved a complex technique of Danny’s own invention combining both tickling and rimming. Danny’s skin, however, is virgin, and that makes him pause in thought.

He is staring pensively at an elaborate colorful drawing of a Chinese dragon complete with glaring eyes and whiskers when a pretty tattoo artist with laughing brown eyes (that remind him of Gracie) and her hair in a rainbow of small beaded dreads beckons him inside. He shrugs and obeys. At this point he certainly has nothing to lose but his dignity.

It’s harder to keep the gift hidden over the next two days then he thought it would be, because Steve is nothing if not handsy with Danny. Luckily. a fast paced, drawn out kidnapping case keeps McGarrett’s attention for roughly 48 hours and afterwards he is too tired to do anything but shower, eat what Danny shoves under his nose and sleep, and Danny solves the obvious problem by wearing a tee shirt and boxers to bed.

On Steve’s birthday, Danny and the team take him out for surf ‘n turf at The Colony at the Hyatt where they have a great evening, surprising him with his favorite chocolate cake ablaze with candles and Chin and Kono present him with gift certificates to the shooting range and an online vintage auto parts shop. Steve beams happily and thanks them profusely and doesn’t seem to notice that Danny has no gift for him. They toast him, coerce the staff and the entire restaurant to sing Happy Birthday to him as loudly and obnoxiously as possible, and proceed to get more than a bit wasted. By the time a taxi drops them off at home it’s all they can do to stagger giggling upstairs, undress and collapse into bed.

Danny is awakened the next morning by Steve’s hands on his shoulders and Steve’s voice -–his way too loud voice in his ear demanding that he wake up and tell Steve what is wrong. He blinks stupidly into his partner’s anxious eyes. Wrong? It’s barely dawn and Steve is bright-eyed and wide-awake and apparently (the bastard) minus any sign of a hangover, and crouching by Danny as wired as though he is in a firefight with the Tong instead of in bed on a Saturday morning.

“What, babe, what?” Danny mumbles sleepily, wincing at the bright sunlight beaming in through the sheer curtains. Steve squeezes his shoulder and glares down at him.

“You have a bandage on your hip, Danny. What happened? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Danny rolls over on his back and stretches lazily and gives Steve a smug smile, one hand reaching up to entwine fingers with the one Steve has on his shoulder. He gives them a reassuring squeeze and yawns and blinks sleepily up at his partner. He beams up at Steve’s anxious face.

“ ‘S a present.”

Steve blinks, mouth open, and it’s really not an attractive look on him, then his eyes darken and he looks intrigued.

“A present? For me?”

Danny scowls up at the big, dumb lunkhead now beaming happily down at him.

“No Steve, for the Governor,” he answers, exasperated. “Who the hell else would I get inked for?”

“Ink?” Steve breathes out in a reverent tone that has Danny rolling his eyes. Really, he is beginning to wonder if all the rum fried Steve’s brain cells last night.

Steve reaches hesitantly for the gauze pad over Danny’s hip, looking again for permission, before gently peeling the corner back revealing the swirls of indigo ink that arc along Danno’s iliac crest. It’s a perfect wave curving against the bone, with Steve’s name swirling in tiny cursive letters beneath it. Steve hisses out a breath and bends to drop a reverent kiss just above it, careful of the still tender skin. When he finally raises his eyes to Danny’s there’s an emotion in them that the blond has never seen before. Love yes, but also an intense pride and possessiveness that renders Danny speechless.

Steve surges up over him and takes his mouth is a fierce kiss, stealing Danny’s breath for long moments and nipping tenderly at his lips before releasing them. His hazel eyes are bright when he looks down at Danny.

“Thanks, Danno. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten.”

Before Danny can reply he moves determinedly over him again, mouth and hands so hungry for skin and touch that it’s a long time before Danny can do anything but feel. Later he lies quietly with Steve dozing lightly on his chest, one possessive hand still cupping Danny’s inked hip. Danny strokes the damp, dark hair tenderly and gazes meditatively at the ceiling, nearly asleep again himself. He thinks that maybe he will ink Grace’s name above his heart next.

 ****

Eleven

Steve lies on his back in the moon-shadowed bedroom and Danny rises above him like the crest of a wave. His wild blond hair is silver in the moonlight and falling over his face as he throws his head back with a guttural moan of pleasure as he slowly rides Steve’s cock. Steve can only gasp and thrust helplessly upward, his hands pinned to the white sheets by Danny’s. He can feel his ring on Danny’s finger. His eyes roam hungrily over his husband’s silver-limned torso. He has never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.

He manages to free his hands to grasp Danny's narrow hips, urging him to a faster pace, thumb brushing the tattoo that swirls over Danny’s hip. Later he will cover Danny like a living blanket and lick his way down that strong body to trace the inked design with his tongue, and nip and taste, and leave his marks on Danny’s skin, but right now he can only feel.

His senses are full of Danny—the hot clench of his body around Steve, his sturdy masculine weight, the slick of sweat between them, the sweet sounds he makes, half-murmured words, broken moans, the heady scent of his musk—all these things are Danny and all these things are his to love and cherish for the rest of their days.

Steve runs his tongue across his teeth and licks his lips in anticipation, already skin hungry.

 ****

Twelve

“Really? You really want to do this?” Danny’s voice is incredulous as he smiles up into Steve’s eyes.

Steve pouts back down at him and takes his hand and tugs him out onto the lanai. It’s a beautiful night and there is a sea of stars reflecting into the ocean as the surf pounds the shore. They have just gotten back from their second anniversary dinner and are still dressed in their best suits, although Steve has already ditched his tie. He pulls Danny close, cheek against the blond head, and begins to move, guiding his husband in a slow dance down the lanai.

Danny follows his lead, like always, and they move together as one. He lifts his head and murmurs against Steve’s throat as they shuffle together,

“Shouldn’t we have music?”

Steve smiles down into those bright loving eyes and brings a hand up to lazily unknot Danny’s tie. He slips it off and tucks it into his own pocket, and continues to unbutton Danny’s crisp white shirt until he can nuzzle his face into warm skin, breathing in the heady citrus scent of Danny’s cologne and warm male musk. He presses his mouth tenderly against the throb of his pulse, feels it quicken and Danny’s breath hitch. He tightens his arm around Danny’s trim waist and pulls him even closer.

He is the first now to admit that he now knows why Danny’s ties aggravated him so much in the beginning. Subconsciously he craved access to Danny’s skin. The tailored button downs and ties were a challenge to his senses, waving a red flag in front of them, worse than any virginal fetish, like a Victorian maiden’s primly buttoned muslin gown.

It made him want to rip Danno’s shirt open, his clothes off his beautiful ripped body and sink his teeth in warm skin. Like he did on their wedding night, ruining Danny’s expensive shirt. He smiles against Danny’s skin at that happy memory. The rant afterwards was epic.

Now he’s glad that Danny modestly covers up for work, because Steve has discovered that he is a very jealous man when it comes to his Jersey boy. He wants that fine body covered so no one can glimpse and covet what’s his. He also knows better than to tell Danny this, because the man would immediately show up at work in a tank and tight jeans just to be contrary and mess with Steve’s mind. So, he continues to tease his man about his ties so he will continue to wear them and Steve won’t be forced to kill some fool and hide the body.

The breeze off the ocean whispers through their hair, heavy with the scent of the jasmine and gardenias Steve’s mother planted by the side of the house so many years ago, and the surf murmurs and sighs over the shore. It makes it own night music. Steve leans down and captures Danny’s lips in a kiss, smiles against his cheek, feeling Danny’s lashes brush his.

“Can’t you hear it Danno?”

“Yeah. Yeah I can.”

 

 ****

Fini  
March 31, 2011


End file.
